Automatic safety razor



"f Aug. 8, 1933. o. R' PETERSON 1,921,774

AUTOMATIC SAFETY RAZOR Filed Feb. 9, 193].

2 sheets-sheet 1 f, 1f 8 @ww/gm FIG. 8.,'v

Aug. 8, 1933. l Q R. PETERSON 1,921,774

AUTOMATIC SAFETY RAZOR Filed Feb. '9, 1951 2 sheets-sheet 2 j ,'Billlllllllllllllllllln Patented Aug. 8, 1933 UNITED STATES PATE-Nr .1,921,774 e AUTOMATIC SAFETY. RAZOR Y. OscarR. Peterson, Brooklyn, N. Y. l K Application February 9, 192i.k serial No; 514,554

- 4 Ciaims. (C1.- 30-:121

This Yinvention relates vto safety razors'of the reciprocating type, and more particularly to that class in which a reciprocable blade assembly unit is caused to reciprocate by means of a roller mounted on the razor. e i f The main object ofmy inventionis to provide a safety razor which possesses the advantages of the known varietiesbut which in addition has the highly useful feature of a blade which reciprocates automatically during use, whereby the cutting eiiciency is greatly enhanced and the entire edge of the blade comes constantly into play. I,

Another object is to provide such a razor with blade assembly unit which may be readily removed for blade renewals. e l i i A further object is to have a razor of the class indicated which is entirely `automatic in useby Virtue of a roller thereon which readily makes contact with the skin in use and which by its re- Y as a whole.

Above all, it is an object of the invention to provide a razor with an automatic feature which is so unobtrusive and simple in construction that .it cannot get out of order and will in no Way detract from the razor when said automatic feature is intentionally ignored while using the razor.

Other objects and the various advantages inherent in my invention will appear more fully in detail as this specification proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings hereof l Fig. 1 is a perspectiveview of a safety razor made according tothe main principles of my invention and embodying all the advantages and desirable features thereof. 1

Fig. 2 is a view of thersame razor when used for shaving, and illustrates the automatic Afeature as being in full operation.

forming part Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the` same razor with` the blade assembly unit in middle position.

Fig. 4 is a side View of the razor when the blade assembly unitis in. its extreme right position.

Fig. 5 is a similar view with the same `blade unit in extreme left position. 1 a i Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the main frame of the razor when the bridge is in open position and the `blade assembly unithas been-removed.

Fig. 7 is a side view `of ithe blade assembly unit mentioned. e e

Fig. 8 is an end view vofithe same unit.

same unit. i

Throughout the views, the same reference nu` merais indicate the saine or duplicate parts. `1 It is a well known fact that in razors, the blades i.

aereof out the hairs during` shavingY solely by virtue of the keen character of the edges doing the cutting, as said edges engage the hairs-directly' head-on. Attempts have been' made to increasev the cuttingcapacity by settingsuch bladesdiagof nally and tilting them at various angles. It is,

on the other hand the conclusionof actual test and experience that side motions or reciprocation of such bladeswill immediately enhanc'etheir efciency and increase their capacity. e

With this fact inv mind, vthe presentinvention has'been designedwith various features and rejcertain extent. l i e `In the practice of my invention a handle 2y has a gap Vframe 3 surmounted by a pair of rails 4, 4 which are connected at one end by a cross member orrigid bridge 5. TothisA cross member 5 is hinged'a swingable vbridge 6 at V16, whose purpose will presently appear; v v

` The rails 4, 4 are provided at their outer edges i with rows ofteeth 11, lllwhich servepasguards for a razor-'blade 8. The latter` blade isheld in assembly with a cap member 7 which has a pairy of guide studs l5, 15 to locate the bladeby means of a retaining member or bar 19, while a nut 20 is screwed .on threaded stud 22 and retains" the gibs 10, 10. The blade is curved concavely to c`on`-l 95 form with the curved underside`23 ofcapV mem- -loer 'l and rides directly on the gibs which in effect are the true rails here, while the sidel edges 2l, 21 of retaining member 190i the blade'assembly are dovetailed to correspondV with the gibs.` The unit may thus slide back'and forth along thee-gibs the same as the guards 11, 11 beingv made longer than the blade vto allow such movejment.' :l

The openend ofthe main frame between'rails 4, 4 are preferablyclosed to` prevent the blade unit from sliding off., and this is onev function i of the swingable bridge 6 previously mentioned. This .bridge 6' has apair of converging nger pieces 9, VSebent downat the free end ofthellO Y it has Abeen'swung downand snapped into'posi- Fig. 9 is an end View of the cap member of the tion. The nger pieces together'form a barrier or retaining end of bridge-6 for thel blade unit 15 nementssuper-added, `as already 'indicated to a 12, preferably knurled is rotatably mounted between a pair of lugs 13, 13 on bridge Sand is further lprovidedvvith a cam slot or groove 14 entire-l ly surrounding the same. Corresponding with this groove, a projection 17 on cap member '7 of the blade unit is arranged to project into the groove of the roller. The groove is cut diagonally from right to left about half the circumference .of Athe roller, and back again from left to right aboutrthe remainingI half, as especially contrastedin Figs. 4 and 5. If now, by any means the Y roller is rotated` owing to the nature of the slot,

the projection which rides in it will be forced to shift, rst in one direction, and then back in the opposite ldirection. and so on, so long as rotation of the roller continues. The bladeshifts rapidly from the position at its extreme left shown in Figs. 1 and 5 through van intermediate position indicated by Fig. 3 to extreme right position as Vshown in Fig.. 4 after which it returns again to the left, etc. p

It is preferred to cause rotation of the roller Vby allowing'the same during shaving to come Ainwtodirect contact with the skin of the face 1 for example, simultaneously with contact of one guard 11 and one edge of blade 8. The mere act of drawingthe razor downward upon the face will cause the vroller to rotate by traction upon the skin, and this, of course, immediately recip- .rocates the blade very materially increasing the effectof the edge of the blade.

blade reciprocating effect, the razor need but be tilted slightly so that the roller no longer touches the face, and a straight, ordinary shave is had, 'the roller Yand its supporting bridge o in no way affecting the use of the razor. In such a case, the blade can be shifted to an extreme right positionby turning the roller slightly with the finger, the position of Fig. 4 and the blade used on both edges until dull. Then the blade can be shifted tothe extreme left position the position of Figs. land 5 when the portions of the edges hitherto obstructed and protected by the individual teeth of the guards will be exposed for use,v

and Vbothedges .will be as though renewed. Y

When it is desired to remove the blade assembly unit for blade renewals the bridge 6 may be readily released and opened by holding the razor handle 2 in one hand while pinching `finger pieces 9, 9 with the thumb and index finger of the.

other hand. Owing to converging form of the outer edges of the finger pieces, the finger piece 'notchesY 18, 18 are not merely released from engagement with rails 4, 4 lbut the fingerpieces tend to slip upward from the .lingers when thus released, and the whole bridge springs suddenly out of the iingers and` swings to a position simi- Ylar to that shown in Fig. 6. The blade unitrnay,

of course, then be slid out and tended to separately. v f

The projection 17 on cap member '7 may be integral therewith or not and may be altered into a plurality of projections and a corresponding number of similar grooves made in the roller. IO ther modifications which are obvious to those skilled in the art could also be made within the scope of my invention, and such I reserve.

y Having now fully described my invention, I claim:-

1. In an automatic safety razor having a frame kincluding a pair of spaced guards connected at one end by a cross piece, a hinge member integrally formed with said cross piece, a bridge hinged to said hinge member and provided with a bifurcated extremity adapted to be swung down between the ends of said guards distant from the cross piece within the outline of the frame as a whole, said bifurcations being exteriorly notched to engage said guards in locking engagement and converged to form resilient finger pieces which tend to slip upward out of the fingers',- whereby said bifurcations maybe Vreleased from said guards and simultaneously propelledupwardrto automatically open said bridge in positive Amanbetween said guards beneath said bridge. Y

2. In an automatic safety razor having a `pair of spaced guards surmounting a handle and a blade assembly supportedbetweenV said guards and reciprocable therebetween, one of said guards being removably attached to the other at one end thereof, the combination, with a cap plate associated with said blade assemblyrand a cam roller supported above said cap plate on the removable guard of said pair of guards of a very obtuse integral projection upon said cap plate beneath said cam roller-and a correspondingly wide angled and open concave cam portion in said cam roller normally engaging said obtuse projection, in order to ytend to shift said blade assembly in the direction of Aits reciprocating movement with respect to said cam roller and properly registersaid cam portion With said If it is not desired to use the roller and itsA cap plate projection when placing theV blade -assembly in commission for operation after replacing said assembly and upon attaching said removable guard to the other guard of saidpair l of guards. Y v

f 3. A `safety razor having a guard, and blade supporting meansl in combination with a bridge member hinged at one end of said guardand comprising a bifurcated extremity adaptedto be swung down between projections at the opposite end of said guard from'that at which said bridge 'of saidpair of guards, a very obtuserprojection on the upper'side of said blade kassembly and va cam roller mounted in the upper guard of said pair of guards. having `a wide angled cam groove therein substantially complementary to said obtuse projection and adapted'upon the rotation `of said roller to reciprocate said blade assembly and to maintain 'the lower side of the A blade assembly pressed against said lower guard of said pair-.of guards by the action of the widely angled projection and cam groove. l l,

OSCAR R. PETERSON.

ner, there being blade carrying means supported 95 

